Cult Corner: Let The Best ‘Batman’ — The Original Batman — Save Your Day

When we talk about streaming culture, we’re usually enthusing about what’s new, but one of the best things about streaming is how it’s made old and obscure cult hits available to a new generation. Presenting Cult Corner: your weekly look into hidden gems and long-lost curiosities that you can find on streaming.

Batman is one of the most beloved characters of all-time. He’s slipped into our public consciousness as a dark knight burdened by trauma, a gargoyle brought to life to battle the demons of mankind. He’s a billionaire playboy, a techno-nut, a ninja, and a stoic. He’s the hero we need, not the hero we deserve.

He’s also a very, very silly man and fantastic dancer.

While it’s true that the modern Batman canon seems to lean into the darkest parts of the character’s pathos, he wasn’t always depicted as a brooding anti-hero. Batman’s first leap from page to screen was defined by camp. The plots were silly, the dialogue overflowing with puns, and fight scenes were punctuated with pop-art title cards. Actors Adam West and Burt Ward played Batman and Robin as gallivanting adventurers as opposed to traumatized vigilantes. It was…well, completely different from the comic’s noir origins. How did this happen? The original ABC show was produced by someone who wasn’t really a Batman fan. In the 1960s, the rights to Batman bounced around networks and production companies until finally ABC outsourced the project to 20th Century Fox, who in turn gave it to Greenway Productions. The company’s head honcho William Dozier read a couple of comics and decided that Batman was tailor made for campy comedy fun. The rest is history.

Even though the television show is derided for its silliness, the original Batman series was progressive in its own way. The show included race-blind casting (Eartha Kitt as Catwoman) and introduced a number of original female roles to the Batman canon. The biggest one? Batgirl. The beguiling side-kick soon evolved into an early feminist hero and appeared in equal pay campaigns. Nevertheless the early Batman series and its accompanying feature-length film are important because they are fun. They are fascinating meditations on how much of a story can be changed by tone, and how much remains intact.

Right now, you can catch Batman: The Movie in all its exuberant glory on Netflix. This odd little gem was made as a spin-off to the first season of the series and features an important onscreen moment for Batman. See, he has to tackle not one, not two, not three, but four iconic opponents: Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman. Batman: The Movie established these four foes as Batman’s greatest rivals. Sure, modern audiences also love Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Bane, Scarecrow, and Ra’s Al Ghul, but these are the four that tower the tallest in the Bat’s mythology.

Most importantly, though, Batman: The Movie is fun. Today a debate is raging over the tone of superhero films. Some fans think that these caped crusaders have to be taken seriously onscreen to be believable, while some critics worry if these action films are spoiled by being too ponderous. The 1966 Batman film is at the heart of this dispute. Some people can’t take its technicolor madness seriously, but I think if you go with it, you’ll discover something really important about Batman: He can overcome anything, even camp.